Christmas at the lodge~

the larsons celebrated Christmas at our cabin for the first time ever.

it was a lot of work and tons of fun.

my car was packed so full when i left the twin cities and headed north

that i felt like i was driving santa's sleigh. (even though it was more

food than presents.) i decorated last time i was up there so that part was done.

my sweetie and i made two swags like this- one for the fence at the end of the driveway

and one to put on the lodge. we foraged in the woods for all the evergreens.

this spruce top was our Christmas tree. it was small but it was all lars 

wanted to cut. i yimmeled a bit but he just wanted to leave all the

trees in the forest. supposedly if you cut just the top off an evergreen though 
they grow a new one!

we wire evergreen boughs to the top of our bird feeding station because

it gives the birds more cover and also because it looks pretty~i even put a few
shiny glass balls on it.

i made 3 kinds of cookies at the lodge and brought up 3 kinds of candy

that i made back at home. 

                                                                                                                        mary, we love the minnow bucket you gave us!

                                                                                                                         

now, can we talk about the food? 

we ate like kings and queens and it was delicious.

here are some of the highlights in the chow-down department.

 i made my traditional Christmas bread and this year caramel rolls too -

(why not- we were going whole hog here anyway....)

i usually make anything sweet-plus the side dishes and lars prepares the meat.

he's dang good at it too. cole's birthday is dec. 25th, so we like to make

something he loves on his birthday. he suggested chicken-jalapeno wraps,

so that's what dale made. they were so good, but i burned the roof

of my mouth so bad eating them that it's still raw~ seriously need to

control myself and at least let my food cool-duh.

and then there's the annual seafood meal. 

crab, lobster, shrimp and garlic cheese biscuits. 

i know, we are spoiled rotten.

the 7 of us spent Christmas Day on the lake ice fishing and

didn't catch much, just a few little perch and bass- but we came back home

and made this seafood feast so who cares? 

we played our traditional dice game after we ate and it always

gets rowdy with a couple of the prizes being coveted by all 

and they get stolen back and forth until the time runs out and/or some knuckles

are bloodied.
*oh we also had dairy queen ice cream cake before bed
and sang a loud version of 
happy birthday to top off the evening!

because this is already so long, i'll show you some 

pictures of actual people next post k?

&

lest you think everything is perfect and picturesque in my world, i'd like

to end with the photo below.

when i got to the lodge i ran in to use the bathroom and this is what 

greeted me. 

i live with fishermen and hunters and this is

just one of the indignities i may run into...

you don't even want to know what's in our freezer, or

what the dogs are chewing on out in the yard.

like taylor swift says, you've just gotta

"shake it off, shake it off".

i didn't even ask why that minnow was in the toilet.

(don't really want to know).

**********


it was a wonderful Christmas in every way,
only thing we missed was the snow,

xox, b.

through a child's eyes~

it's a tradition for me to share this

precious, precious video with you at Christmas.

                                                                   (click in lower right hand box to enlarge)

************

26 years ago i was overdue with our child who would be born
on Christmas Day and and this darling video of little children
acting out the story of Jesus's birth is just so 
darned sweet it makes me mooshy inside.

wishing you all the blessings this wonderful season brings.

love and peace dear friends! 

beth

xox

let's all move to northfield!

i know, i know- another post from me...

it's just that i have so much good Christmas stuff to

show you and since i took the time and had the fun of taking

the pictures i want to share them with all of you so i'm posting a lot

this week- thanks for reading!

on monday my friend christa invited me to come to northfield

for a Christmas brunch at her house again.  girlfriend loves to decorate and

her family is in a different house this year so i couldn't wait to

see how she'd decked her halls.

(*to see last years brunch go here:

a birthday in december ~ dec.10th 2013)

thank you ikea for this big red star~

pioneer woman's quiche~ we're making it for Christmas morning~

it's so yummy.  the croissants are from a charming little bakery in dundas.

these shutters above christa's bed used to be in her beloved grandparents home.

isn't it a charming idea to hang a lighted wreath on them?

this guys eyebrows said it all. very Norwegian. i should know, my hubbie's 100% norsk and

without a lot of maintenance this is exactly how his eyebrows could look. (love you lars) :  )

thank you target for selling things like this bike platter and the pillow with the tree.

you make it so easy to decorate our homes with character and style~

(and no this is not a paid endorsement, although if you're interested target- 

just give me a little shout out).

christa and i love a lot of the same things. she likes red trucks with trees tied on top too and

she's the reason i love little vintage dogs.

after our nummy brunch we headed downtown. if you've never been to northfield treat yourself

and go there. it's the home of 2 colleges and it's on the river so it's got all the

old fashioned charm you'd expect.

at the rare pair, they wrap in an organic but fabulous fashion

we ducked into the jessie james museum to use the restroom and were

treated to a chin dropping "ohhhhhhh" when we saw this tree

dripping with glass ornaments.

an occasional shop called -the spare room- was all prettied up and had

refreshments out for their customers. 

christa and maggie at the museum

it was just a perfectly wonderful day in this cute

little town- thank you christa for inviting us again this year.

(now it's a tradition right?)

and these little friends of mine are going to help

me say so long for today,

*not much makes us "birders" happier than

a bright red cardinal at the feeder.

and theodore is up to something as usual.

i think he may be having a brunch too- for alvin and the chipmunks maybe-

and he's busy grilling chestnuts?

peace and love,

b.

here is a little collection of cars with Christmas trees on them

that i've culled from here and there to share with you~

it's one of my new favorite things and i totally dig the image,

whether on a pillow, a sugar cookie or a shelf.

kinda died over this antique truck with the many trees!

must have this cookie cutter!!!

the doggies in the red truck- umm JOY TO THE WORLD~

wouldn't you just LOVE to get this Christmas card?

this last one is one of mine~ from the lodge

happy monday,

hope your day is merry and bright!

xo, beth

p.s.  here's a really genius tip for you parents out there-

one year when my kids were young i knew they'd be relentlessly digging under

the tree, shaking their presents and probably guessing what was in them so

i had an idea.

i put a name on each gift- but it wasn't really who it was for-

for instance, all of eric's gifts said adria.

all of adria's gifts said cole...

do you get my drift? still makes me chuckle when i think back

to Christmas Eve when they smugly made their piles and sat down

in front of them. let me tell you, there had been a LOT

of shaking and dreaming about what was in those boxes.

lars and i settled in too and then i casually said,

"hey by the way~those aren't actually your presents" 

then i told each of them which pile was theirs.

they didn't like it. not one little bit, but i thought it

was such a great trick that i thought i'd pass it on so you

could use it too!

keep em guessing guys~

: )